It's past seven o'clock and we're already up,
ready to enjoy our breakfast at the hotel.
Here they serve cheese, cold cuts
yogurt, cereal, muesli
and several types of jam to suit every taste.
That's right. We really need an energy boost after an almost sleepsless night.
We didn't sleep well.
The heat, the people who talked, the noise from the street,
drunk people,
with no air conditioning and it was so hot.
We left Rome where it was hot and we came to Munich
where it is just as hot.
This morning it's slightly cooler.
One last dose of honey for me
and once breakfast is over,
we have enough energy to start the day.
Our goal today is to visit the Englischer Garten.
So we walk to the central station
where we'll take an S-Bahn train
which serves the city center as well as the suburbs.
And then we'll switch to a U-Bahn train,
which is the metro of Munich.
And even in the station where we just arrived,
we notice something odd.
I don't get why all the escalators go down
and we have to use the stairs to go up.
Because they want to keep us fit.
Yes, for sure ! It's good for our health.
We're at the subway stop "Universität",
which is the university district of Munich, as it can be easily guessed from its name.
And just a few steps away, here's the Englischer Garten
which, with an area of 3.7 square km,
is one of the world's largest urban public parks.
And there, by this beautiful stream that runs through the park,
some people come to play with their children.
Any kind of children.
And after witnessing this scene, we give into the temptation,
The only place where we've found some relief from the heat so far is the Englischer Garten
where we are right now.
And now I'll just soak my feet in this really cool water.
The temptation to stay here all day is really strong
but we still have so much to see.
So we leave the cool waters of the stream
and we go see the Chinese tower.
This 25-meter-high wooden structure
was modelled on the "Great Pagoda" in the Royal Botanic Gardens in London
and made several appearances on the TV show "Derrick".
This is one of the main points of reference of the park
and all around the tower, there are several bars, restaurants,
beer gardens that are everywhere in Munich - the Biergarten.
And this Biergarten, with 7,000 seats, is the second largest in the city.
We continue our walk, but since we're kind of hungry
we sit on a bench to eat something.
And now we'll take a short break to eat the eggs that we got at breakfast.
Tiny eggs, but at least they'll satisfy our hunger for a while,
before leaving the park and finding a place where to have lunch.
How small is the egg ?
Very small.
We are at the Kleinhesseloher See, an artificial lake in the park
where the inhabitants of Munich come to find a way to relax.
Some do it by reading a good book
and some come here to surf.
Some relax with a nice boat ride
and some come here to jog.
And there's also someone who can simply relax by feeding the ducks.
And speaking about ducks,
we can't help but make some philosophical considerations
on how carefee their life is.
They don't have to work, pay taxes.
They don't know what war or ISIS is.
Swimming, eating and sleeping all day.
Maybe I should have been born a duck.
We say goodbye to our little friends
and after a walk around the lake,
we start heading back to the exit.
Our visit to the park is about to come to an end
and I'll cool down my feet one last time
before heading back to the center of Munich.
The water is not too cold. Very pleasant.
With the heat ahead of us, we're going to miss the cooling feeling of these waters.
Just outside the park, we bump into the usual long line of parked bicycles.
With so many bike lanes,
bicycles are the favorite means of transportation of the people in Munich.
But since we don't have one, we'll take the subway to go have lunch in the center.
At the Biergarten by Marienplatz we fill our bottles with fresh water.
After quenching our thirst, it's time to also satisfy our hunger.
What will this Biergarten offer to starving people like us ?
But it's obvious: Würstel, Würstel and more Würstel
with all kinds of meat
from the red one of the Rotwurst
to the white one of the Weisswurst,
on a plate or in a sandwich,
with Sauerkraut or Kartoffelsalat.
We choose a Würstel sandwich.
And even if we'd like some Sauerkraut,
the ladies warn us that there isn't any.
This is the exact same place where we had Würstel sandwiches
the previous time I was in Munich
and the two ladies are still obnoxious as they were then.
They are rude, kind of abrupt.
My sister asked for Sauerkraut and they gave her a cold, scornful look.
And they're still behaving in the exact same way.
Full and satisfied,
after a whole morning spent walking around,
we decide to go back to the hotel.
We're exhausted
after walking around the park this morning
so now we'll take a short break,
we'll get some rest, since we hardly got any sleep last night
and then we'll keep exploring Munich.
Now that we're well rested,
our next mission is to go to the station
and buy the train tickets for tomorrow morning.
The destination is a surprise.
At the central station, crowded as usual,
we start looking for a ticket machine
and after buying the tickets, we head back to the center.
We walk by the Strunz (=asshole in Italian)
and then we end up at the same fountain from the night before
where, in this heat, the kids are having a lot of fun.
The attractions in this pedestrian zone are a lot.
Like this string quartet.
And soon enough, we get to the most famous square of Munich,
Marienplatz, where in the Middle Ages a market was held to sell salt and wheat.
On one side of the square, there's the monumental Neues Rathaus,
the neo-gothic New City Hall.
And in the middle, there's Mary's column,
and at its base four putti are fighting different beasts.
One is fighting a snake, which represents heresy,
another is fighting a basilisk, symbolizing pestilence,
another is fighting a lion, the symbol of war
and the last one is fighting a dragon, the symbol of hunger.
The New City Hall hosts the biggest carillon in Germany
with 43 bells.
Everyone's anxiously waiting, because at 5pm sharp
its 32 life-sized copper figures will come to life.
And after the reenactment of William V's wedding, it's time for the coopers' dance.
We're hungry again,
but since we're tired of eating Würstel all the time
and we don't feel like having Italian food in Germany,
we settle for Middle Eastern food at Oliva,
the best döner in Munich, apparently.
Kebab.
What type ?
Chicken. It's good.
And now, with a full stomach, we can keep exploring the area.
And this is the Isar, the river that flows through Munich.
The river Isar, which is Germany's second most important tributary of the Danube,
attracts the inhabitants of Munich for different types of leisure activities,
between ancient and modern,
between a statue of Bismarck and a weird rotating abstract work of art,
All along the river, there are bike lanes
used by hundreds of cyclists,
while the so called Isar Valley
is crowded with bathers who want to spend these hot days in the best way.
Some simply relax in the sun
while someone else ventures into an awkward dive.
We leave the Isar valley
and after spotting one of the very few specimens of Vespa,
a rare alternative to bycicles,
we are witnesses of a brave endeavour.
1...
2...
3 !
That's right ! Münchners really know how to have fun with what they have,
even if it comes to breaking the rules,
because here, although swimming is forbidden,
some people are soaking in the water in a carefree way.
After this long walk, we are craving something sweet,
so we decide to treat ourselves to a huge ice cream cup.
What about sour cherry ?
Then there's this one with walnuts.
We are at the ice cream parlor "Venezia"
where the Italian staff had the brilliant idea to open a commercial activity
and to bring some Italian treats to Germany.
Good !
And after savoring our sour cherry ice creams,
we can go back to our hotel
and end the second day of our trip
bringing sweet memories with us.
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